Power actuated means for feeding rotary drills



J1m 1931- P. JONES ETAL 1,310,248

POWER ACTUATED MEANS FOR FEEDING ROTARY DRILL$ Filed June 24. 1929 PHiLIP JONES PAUL w. PRUTZMAN r l/fi/TORS ATTO EV 20 complished automatically by. a torque-re- Patented June 16, 1931 UNITED STATES 'PA ENT oFEicE PHILIP Jonas annrnuniwinfiriman, or nos ANGEILEs, cnmronnm rowan acrue'rnn MEANS iron FEEDING no'rAnY DRiLLS Application filed June 24, 1929. Seria1 No.-373,372.

- in the net weight of the drill string may be compensated by manual adjustment of a single hand control and .is further 'so arranged that the net weight of the. drill string may be read on a fluid-pressure gauge.

' The apparatus is also so arranged that the regulation of the lifting means may. be-acsponsive means, thus rendering the device responsive to the torque on the drill string instead of to its weight.

Our invention consists essentially of four elements -:v a reel or small winding drum to which the free end of the drilling line v(the end opposite the main hoisting drum) is attached and on which a material length of line may be wound; a liquid-actuated motor, having special characteristics which. will be later described, arranged to drive the aforesaid reel in such direction as to wind the line thereon; a means such as a pump for supplying the aforesaid motor with an actuating liquid under pressure; and an adjustable means for maintaining the actuating liquid under a definite but variable pressure.

The'nature of this apparatus, its manner of functioning and the advantages to be obtained by its use will be clearly evident from the attached drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows the apparatus assembled.

Fig. 2 is a verticalsection of a preferred form of liquid-actuated motor, and,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the motor. Referring to Fig. 1, 10-is a drilling derrick; 11 is the rotary table by which the drill string is revolved; 12 represents the upper end of such drill string,- no details being indicated; 13 is the main hoisting drum on which the cable is wound and by means of "which the drill-string lifted from the hole; 14 is the crown block; 15 is the travelling block by which the drill string is directly supported; and 16 is the drilling line,the free end of whichis made fast to and wound on the reel 17. All of these portions of a rotary drilling apparatus are diagrammatically represented, as they are no part of our invention and may be of any known or preferred form.

The reel 17 which may be'placed in any convenient position, is shownin Fig. 1 as being connected to the motor 18 by a train of gears indicated at 19, which gear train may be replaced by a chain and a pair of sprockets or other preferred means for transmitting power from 'a rotating drive member to a rotating driven member. 3

The motor indicated at 18, .which will later be more fully described, is driven in the direction indicated by the arrow by means ofa liquid under pressure A supp]. .of this liquid, which is by preference a In ricating oil of moderate viscosity, say

300 seconds at 100 Saybolt Universal, 1s

stored in the tank 20 from which it is withdrawn through a pipe 21 into the suction of apump 22. The drawing indicates a steam driven reciprocating pump, but any other type of pump, driven by any convenient source of power, may be substituted therefor provided only the pum is capable of maintaining a sustained hig pressure over long periods. I

The discharge of this pump passes. through a pipe 23, in which is interposed a manual stop valve 24, into the intake of the motor'18. Passing through this motor and causing it to rotate the gear rain and reel, the liquid'passes through a pipe 25 and thus returns to the supply tank 20.

The line 23, at any convenient point between the pump 22 and the motor 18, is provided with abranch line 28 in which is interposed a pressureregulating means 29, the purpose of this pipe being to return to lating valve 29 is described in a companion application filed J une 24, 1929, Serial No. 373,369, and entitled Mechanical rotary drilling control.

The fluid-actuated motor, which is an es-- sential part of our present invention, may

be any motor which will maintain a rela-- tively' high torque, constant in direction and substantially constant in value, regardless of the direction in which the motor is rotating. To be more explicit, the motor must be capable of maintaining a substantially constant torque in the direction in which it tends to revolve'the reel in the winding in direction, under the following conditions:'(a) Wherethe resistance to rotation is less than the torque and the motor is consequently-running forward and reeling in line, (b) where the resistance to rotation is equal to the torque and the motor is stalled; and (0) where the resistance to z; rotation is greater than the torque and the motor is thus forced to run backward, allowing the reelto pay'out line.

It is of course essential that the motor be of such nature that it may be reversed in direction by a force overbalancing its power. Such a motor may be, for instance, a pump of the rotating, sliding vane type, or a rotary pump of the meshed spur gear type. WVe prefer the last named type for numerous reasons, mainly because it isv absolutely reversible, maintains a constant torque regardless of direction of rotation and, within reasonable limits, regardless of speed, and because it is a simple and durable machine.

For a description of this pump, which in our application becomes a motor but which as pum is well known and widely used, reference is made to Figs. 2 and 3 of the attached drawings.

In these drawings 32 and 33 are the substantially flat sides and 34 the circumference of a metallic case in which the two spur gears 35 and 36. are supported. These gears should mesh very closely and should also be closely fitted into the case, both on their circumference and on their fiat faces, to avoid slippage of liquid. Both the case and the gears should be of hard steel or other hard metal and the case should be The bearings 39 are placed in gears 35 and 36, these shafts being supported.

on the roller bearings 393939 and 40.

ockets formed in bosses projecting from t e flat walls of the case, but the bearing 40 is held in a tubular projection from the case, this projection having an internal shoulder 41 against which rests a machined washer 42. This washer supports the soft packing 43 which is retained by the packing nut 44. The end 46 of shaft 37, which is shown broken off, carries the first member of the gear train 19.

Liquid under pressure enters the upper threaded opening '45, which communicates with pipe 23 and, being prevented from passing downward by the intermeshing of the gears 35 and 36, enters the space between the gear teeth and the circumference of the case, forcing the gears to rotate in opposite directions as indicated by arrows A and B. The liquid thus carried to the op osite side of the case is likewise prevented fi om passing upward and is thus forced out of the lower threaded openin 47 which communi cates with pipe 25. "he projectingshaft 46, which is keyed into gear 35, is thus forcibly rotated in the direction indicated by arrow A.

The device indicated in ig. 1 operates in the following manner:

Tank 20 is partly filled with a suitable liquid, such as the lubricating oil above mentioned or glycerine, ethylene glycol, or other liquid having a substantial viscosity. The use of a viscous liquid is desirable inasmuch as slippage is thus greatly reduced and the mechanism is kept continuously lubricated. Lubricating oil is the most satisfactory liquid for this purpose unless the then started and liquid circulated through pipes 23 and 28 and the release valve 29, thus returning into tank 20. The release valve is then temporarily locked down to stop this circulation and the liquid is thus diverted into the motor, from which it returns through pipe 25 to tank 20.

The motor 18 and the reel 17 are thus caused to revolve in the direction indicated by arrow C, thus reeling the drilling line on to the reel 17, and bringing the line taut. As the motor continues to drive the reel the slack line will be taken up and the tools the drilling line 16 slack and the main reel '13 locked against rotation. Pump 22 is n be lifted fibihthe'bottoin hfth'ehole.

reeltgp out line, as hereinafter explained,

'until a portion oithe weight ,of the string rests on the bottom of the hole. The reduce tion indicated on the gauge divided by the original indicated weight is the proportion of the weight. of thetoolstrin'gnow resting on the bit. If the actual weight of the tool string be calculated, allowing for displacement of drilling mud, etc., the indications "fconvertedinto-actual weights and a gauge back to tank 20 through release valve 29. pipe, it will be necessary to rewelgh themay thus be calibrated which will read directly in pounds for caldrill pipe of any given diameter/andweight per foot.

A desir dproportion of the weight of the ools beingmaintamed on the drilling line,

the motor 18 is stationary, the weight being sustained by the torque of the motor while the liquid discharged by pump 22 passes The tools now being revolved, in drilling,

time sufficient line for the neiilf'feeding'peiven by the pressuregauge may readily be 1 throttling the liquid flow when the motor is running in a reverse direction and the pump 22 is simultaneously delivering its full sup ply through pipes 23 and 28. The pressure in pipe 23 should not be varied appreciably by reversal of the direction of the motor.

When it is necessary to lengthen the drill string, line is paid out from the. winding v drum-13-in--the-usual 'manner and at this riod is wound on to reel 17 by forward rotation .of the motor. The reel may be of sufficient diameter and length to feed at least a joint of drill pipe without placing more than one lZLE QTLHHQQIIHKE I QElflFiS411lde siiilbletb place a second layer of line over the first, as this increases the radius of the W n reel and thus alters the relation between actual weight and 'lndicated liquid pressure.

pleted and at other times when the weight of the tool string is not supported by the blocks, the motor may be stopped and held stationary by closing valve 24. This is better practice than stopping pump 22, which is preferably kept stroking along with a constant power supply.

l/Vhen the weight of the tool string is materially changed, as by the addition of drill string in the manner above described. The

' the bit cuts its way into the formation and operator may observe the gauge indication at the moment when the string is lifted free 28 into tank 20. The liquid t add more drill pipe.

an increased weight is thus thrownon the.

drilling line; This excess welght is trans 19 to motor 18, on the drive shaft ofwhich a constant torque is being maintained due to and may then reduce this gauge indication,

, 35 mittedthrough the reel 17 and gear train by a new regulation of the release valve 29,

.which correby a predetermined amount sp onds Ltoihe weight wh-ich it is considered constant liquid pressure, which in turIris desirable to impose on the bit. This weight due to a fixed adjustment of release valve 29.

caused to run backward, the motor then acting as a pump, drawing liquid through pipe 1 25 and discharging it throng; pipe 23 and us moved in a reverse direction escapes through the same release valve 29 and the torque of' the motor thus remains unchanged, the combination of motor, gear train and reel acting to maintain a constant partial support of the string. The drill string is thus gradually lowered by the paying out of line from reel 17 until the reel is empty or until it is necessary to I It will be obvious that gear train 19 should be rendered as nearly frictionless as possible in order that the support afiorde'd the tools may result froma determinable and controllable liquid pressure rather than $0 from an uncontrollable and indeterminate frictional resistance. If this precaution is neglected the tools are likely to feed by jerks instead of feeding steadily. The precaution should also be taken of making'release valve 29 of sufficient area to avoid any chance of may, of course be varied in different types of formation by regulation of the releasevalve 29.

It will be understood that we do not claim the invention of the gear pump shown in Figs. 2 and 3, nor do .we claim as such its use as a motor, our invention being comprised in the combinations set forth in the attached claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A secondary feeding means for rotary drills, comprising: a winding reel adapted to raise the drill by reeling-in a portion of the drilling line; a liquid-actuated motor connected to said reel and adapted to drive .said reel in a forward or winding-in direc-- tion when supplied with liquidunder pressure; means for supplying saidmotor with said liquid; means for maintaining said pressure substantially constant and for manually controlling said pressure, and means for permitting the reversal of the direction When the winding. up operation is com-' of said motor without substantial loss of forward torque when said winding reel is subjected to a weight overbalancing thefor ward torque of said motor.

2. A secondaryfeeding means for rotary drills, comprising: awinding reel having wound thereon a portion of the free end 0 the drilling line; a liquid-actuated motor characterized by maintaining a substantially constant torque in a forward direction when rotated in a reverse direction by a force exceeding said torque; means connecting said motor with said reel adapted .to drive said reel in a winding-in direction when said motor rotates ina forward direction; means for supplying said motor with liquid under pressure adapted to rotate said motor in a forward direction; relief valve means for m intaining said pressure substantially constant, and means for keeping said motor filled with said liquid when said motor is revolved in a reverse direction by a force exceeding its torque.

3. A secondary feeding means for rotary drills comprising: a liquid'actuated motor adapted to revolve a winding drum in a winding-in direction; means forsupplying said motor with actuating liquid under" pressure; means for maintaining said pressure substantially constant, and means for permitting said secondary drum to revolve in a reverse direction and to reverse the direction of said motor without substantial change in said actuating pressure.

In witness that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto subscribed our names this 19th day of J une, 1929.

PHILIP J ONES. PAUL -W. PRUTZMAN. 

